


You Are You

by katling



Series: Zer0 Sum Game [7]
Category: Borderlands
Genre: M/M, frustrated zer0, gotta love the new-U, it's just not a challenge, mention of non-permanent death, reckless axton, zer0 can speak normally
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 21:11:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7986352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was written for a prompt over on tumblr. The prompt was: “well when you put it that way i sound like a terrible person.” </p>
<p>Zer0 is frustrated, Axton faces some of his faults and gets unhappy, Zer0 relents because they know that Axton is Axton and as much as it frustrates them sometimes, they wouldn't want him to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Are You

“Well, when you put it that way I sound like a terrible person.”

Zer0 looked over and saw Axton was staring at the floor, his face clouded with unhappiness. They had just finished a frustrated rant – so frustrated they hadn’t even been able to manage to put it into haiku – about Axton’s reckless on the battlefield that had morphed into a litany of just how many times the commando had died and had to be picked up from the nearest New-U station. It had been a sizable number. A _very_ sizable number. More than Gaige, Maya and Zer0 combined.

Zer0 sighed and quickly dismantled their helmet, placing the pieces on the table in their room. The oxygen levels were set such that they could easily go without it. Once that was done, they walked over and shoved the jacket off Axton’s shoulders before pushing the man over to sit on the bed. They sat down next to him and sighed again.

“You are not like that/Jack’s a terrible person/You are not at all.”

Axton frowned and shrugged. “I didn’t know I’d died that much. I don’t _mean_ to. I just…” He shrugged again. “I don’t know.”

Zer0 sighed for a third time and reached over to cup Axton’s cheek with one hand. They turned his head and leaned in to rest their forehead against their lover’s.

“I think you… are you/Reckless is just who you are/It’s in your nature.”

Axton winced and looked miserable. “That makes me sound like an asshole.”

“I did not mean it/to sound that way. Not at all/It’s the way you are.” They smiled a little. “And on the bright side/It is part of the reason/I rather like you.”

Axton managed a faint smile in return. “About the only good thing about this. I’ve tried, you know, not being…”

“You?” Zer0 cocked their head curiously. “Is that what’s happened?/You’ve tried to change but failed?/And then they blamed you?”

Axton didn’t answer the question except that he shifted closer, seeking physical reassurance that Zer0 was more than willing to give. They shifted around on the bed until Zer0 was resting against the wall and Axton was practically curled up in their lap. They ran their fingers through his hair and chuckled when he almost started purring. 

Zer0 looked down at their lover and decided it was time. The haiku was a challenge. They loved a challenge and constantly thinking up haikus had been one of the better ones they’d ever come across. But it wasn’t their normal way of speaking and they felt it was time that they gave Axton the benefit of being able to speak with them properly instead of having to decipher what they meant through the haikus.

“They were fools. You are who you are and they should have accepted that.”

Axton twisted around a little and looked up at them with surprise. “No haikus?”

Zer0 smiled a little. “You deserve better from me.”

“I like the haikus,” Axton said with a shrug.

Zer0 chuckled. “I know but you still deserve better when we are here, like this.” They ran their fingers through Axton’s hair and the man melted against them. “Would I like it if you were less reckless, if you died less? Of course I would. But it is in your nature to be like you are. I have seen you trying to do better but in the heat of the moment…” They chuckled again. “You revert to being you.”

“That still doesn’t make me sound very good,” Axton grumbled.

“We all have our faults.”

“You drive like a maniac,” Axton said, grinning up at them. 

“I do not.”

“I never puke when any of the others drive.”

“You did when Krieg drove.”

“Yeah, that’s a point.” Axton shifted so that he was straddling Zer0’s lap. “I’ll try harder.”

“I knew what I was getting into when I accepted your drink,” Zer0 said with a shake of their head. “You do not need to change for me.”

Axton gave them a quizzical look. “But you said you wished I wasn’t so reckless.”

“I do but you are reckless by nature. I like you how you are. I do not want a watered down version of Axton. I would not like that.”

Axton bowed his head and laughed softly. When he raised his head again, he was smiling wryly. “No one’s ever said that to me before.”

Zer0 scowled. “I had come to that conclusion. If I find them, I will shoot them.”

“No shooting my exes,” Axton said with exasperated amusement. “You can be scary and ominous though, if you like. And I can be your hot boytoy.”

Zer0 tilted their head back and laughed. “What makes you think I’m older than you are?”

Axton looked startled. “Aren’t you?”

“Probably,” Zer0 said with a shrug. “I never bothered to figure out how to convert my people’s calendar.”

“Boytoy,” Axton said with satisfaction.

“Hot boytoy,” Zer0 replied then pulled Axton into their unique version of a kiss. They might never like how many times Axton died but they wouldn’t change him for anything.


End file.
